The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to ultrasound systems, and more particularly to ultrasound transducers and methods for manufacturing ultrasound transducers.
Ultrasound systems typically include ultrasound scanning devices (e.g., an ultrasound transducer, all or a portion of which may be housed within a probe) that perform various ultrasound scans (e.g., imaging a body or other volume). The scanning devices include acoustic elements that transmit and receive ultrasound signals. The acoustic elements may be arranged in an array. The ultrasound signals received by the acoustic elements are used to generate an image of the body or other volume. For example, the received ultrasound signals may be used to generate an image of internal tissues of a patient, such as, but not limited to, an image of a patient's heart.
At least some known ultrasound systems include electronics (e.g., one or more integrated circuits) that perform transmit and/or receive beamforming operations on the ultrasound signals. Such beamforming electronics are electrically and mechanically connected to the acoustic elements of the ultrasound transducer for performing the beamforming operations. The electrical and mechanical connection between the beamforming electronics and the acoustic elements may be a direct connection or may be provided through an interposer that extends between the acoustic elements and the beamforming electronics.
In some known ultrasound systems, an adhesive is used to mechanically connect or both mechanically and electrically connect the beamforming electronics to the acoustic elements. But, it may be difficult or impossible to apply enough adhesive to provide the mechanical connection with a predetermined strength, for example because of a limited amount of space between adjacent electrical contacts of the beamforming electronics and the acoustic elements or because the adhesive electrically shorts adjacent electrical contacts. Accordingly, the mechanical connection provided by the adhesive may be severed, for example during operation and/or transport of the ultrasound system, which may electrically disconnect the beamforming electronics from the acoustic elements and thereby disrupt operation of the ultrasound system.